Yinka came across a travel deal that looked too good to miss when looking for flights online so she could attend her cousin's wedding in Nigeria.

She thought she was booking a flight, but the websites appear to be a scam based on Yinka's claims and her bank, Barclays', response - both websites say they are they are ATOL protected, but ATOL warns this is untrue.

It wasn't until later on in her booking that Yinka, who wishes for her surname to be anonymous, realised this.

Yinka saw a deal on www.serenityflights.co.uk, completed the online form requesting a quote and was told a travel agent would be in touch.

She says she then received a call and email with a quote for the dates requested - but she says they sent her in the direction of www.SunShineTravels.co.uk, a sister website.

"The quote was comparable to many other travel agents, so I didn’t feel suspicious at this point," she explained.

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How it worked

Serenityflights.co.uk is still running (grab taken from website)

An email requesting payment followed, asking her to transfer the full amount of £611 to a Barclays bank account.

"I hesitated as I’d heard about the Western Union Transfer Scams but, because I bank with Barclays, I went ahead and transferred the money to what I believed was a business account for SunShine Travels [the company linked to Serenity]."

Yinka sent her money across and was told her ticket would follow the next Monday.

Monday came and Yinka got an email, that's when alarm bells started ringing.

Serenity Flights looked like a normal comparison site - picture grabbed on May 1

"I put the reference in on the BA website," she said. "But nothing came up - I tried a few times. I called Tim [who had been dealing with her ticket] immediately to ask for my e-ticket and he got extremely defensive and aggressive over the phone."

It was then that she started to notice a few other odd things with the booking; the layout of the email, the reference that didn't work and silly typos in the emails Tim had sent.

Yinka was sent to SunShine Travel website (taken on May 1)

The signs

"I had given him the benefit of the doubt," Yinka added. "It was when I rang up asking for Tim and a 'Sam' answered that I realised. He said Tim wasn't there, but when I said my surname he hung up on me."

Yinka says rang after this, but no one picked up.

It was time to contact her bank. She called Barclays hoping something could be done.

It didn't matter that the Serenity Flights also banked with Barclays as Yinka had willingly transferred them the money, but she did hope the payment could be frozen.

But 20 days later she got a letter saying they had been unable to trace the funds and she would have to contact the police or the payee - something that was never going to happen.

"Not only did I lose my money, but I missed the wedding," said Yinka sadly. She's contacted Action Fraud to report the website, but both websites remain online.

Yinka also went to her MP, which prompted Barclays to refer her case to a special team dedicated to responding to cases brought to MPs' attention.

When Yinka raised issues with how she felt her case was dealt with she was given £200 as a goodwill gesture.

Justice - and helping others

"I felt like I was given false hope," she said. "I just want justice and for them to be stopped so others don't fall for the same scam.

"At first I was embarrassed, but I just don't want it to happen to other people."

It turned out the company account had been open for years, but no suspicions had been raised before.

While it was too late for Yinka, her determined pursuit of the case has led to others getting their money back.

SunShine Travels is relatively new, but Serenity Flights has been active for more than two years - and is still up and running.

Serenity Flights' website was created online on February 24, 2016 while SunShine Travels' website was created on October 12, 2017.

Yinka says Barlcays confirmed to her that they had been able to succesfully freeze other alleged victims' payment transfers to SunShine travels Barclays account and return the funds back to the alleged victims.

"But unfortunately for me the funds I transferred had already been removed," she added.

Scams on the rise

Mirror Online has tried to contact Serenity Flights and Sunshine Travels, but with no response. Both websites are still online.

The websites are registered to two different addresses. Neither appear on Companies House.

While both websites say they are ATOL protected, it's fake - the ATOL website actually has Serenity Flights and SunShine Travels under it's 'websites to watch out for' list. The list is up-to-date as of January 4, 2018.

Websites may falsely use the logo - but you need to check the website

A Barclays spokesperson said: "One of our highest priorities is the protection of customers’ funds. Unfortunately the six day gap between the customer making the payment to the imposter travel agent and notifying us meant there were not funds left in the account to return. Such scams are on the rise and would always recommend that consumers do checks to ensure that companies are genuine.”

Things to look out for

If someone tells you to transfer money to an account this should set alarm bells ringing, most reputable sites will have in built payment systems and most people will not ask for your account details

Typos in correspondence - while we all make mistakes consistent errors, especially bad English, are warning signs

If you are being told to reply quickly, or told to reply fast or the deal will end, don't feel pressured - this can also be a sign

If they are over-familiar and over-friendly with you

Check the contact email, does it have the company name? Is the telephone number in the UK and is it actually listed? You can check with Companies House

If you think you have been a victim of a scam you can contact Action Fraud .